Translation guide
The English phrase 'be good' can express moral goodness, skill, quality, benefit, or behavior. This guide covers natural Japanese equivalents for each meaning, from general praise to specific contexts like food, behavior, and ability.
Describing a person's character as morally good, kind, or virtuous.
Literally 'good person', this is the most common way to say someone is a good person in terms of character.
He is a good person.
Means 'kind' or 'gentle', often used to describe someone's good nature.
A more formal or literary term for 'good-natured' or 'virtuous'.
He is a good citizen.
Saying someone is good at something, skilled, or proficient.
Describing something as being of good quality, useful, or beneficial.
The basic adjective for 'good'. Can describe quality, suitability, or benefit.
Saying food or drink tastes good.
The standard word for 'delicious' or 'tastes good'.
Telling someone (often a child) to behave well or be good.
Saying something is good for one's health or condition.
良い (よい) is the standard form, while いい is a more casual, colloquial variant. In formal writing or speech, 良い is preferred. The negative form is always よくない, never いくない.
This movie is not good.
Directly translating 'be good' as 良くあれ or 良くなれ is unnatural. Use context-appropriate expressions like いい子にして (behave) or 良い人だ (is a good person).
彼女はとても優しい。
She is very kind.
He is good at cooking.
Use with a verb in dictionary form + の to say someone is good at doing something.
She is good at singing.
Means 'one's strong point' or 'something one is good at'. Often used for skills.
I am good at math.
この本は良い。
This book is good.
More casual/common form of 良い. Used in everyday speech.
That's good, isn't it.
Means 'wonderful' or 'splendid', a stronger form of 'good'.
That's a great idea.
This ramen is good.
Casual, often used by men. Can also mean 'skilled'.
This sake is good.
Similar to いい子にして, slightly more formal or used for pets.
Be a good boy/girl and wait, okay?
Vegetables are good for you.